The East Jefferson Avenue Residential District in Detroit, Michigan includes the Thematic Resource (TR) in the multiple property submission to the National Register of Historic Places which was approved on October 9, 1985. The structures are single-family and multiple-unit residential buildings with construction dates spanning nearly a century, from 1835 to 1931.[2] The area is located on the lower east side of the city.

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The road that is now East Jefferson Avenue existed from the earliest days of Detroit.[2] Then known as the "River Road," it paralleled the Detroit River east of Detroit, connecting the French ribbon farms to Ste. Anne Street in the heart of Detroit. After the disastrous fire of 1805, Judge Augustus Woodward platted out a new design for the city, widening Ste. Anne St. and renaming it (and the connecting River Road) "Jefferson Avenue" in honor of Thomas Jefferson.[2]

As the 19th century drew to a close and the 20th century began, the area around Jefferson Avenue became more industrialized. Wealthy residents, spurred by the availability of streetcar lines (and later, the automobiles), moved farther from the city center, leaving Jefferson Avenue behind. However, the booming city economy and influx of new residents in the 1910s increased demand for new housing. East Jefferson Avenue became an epicenter for new luxury apartment buildings, built particularly in the 1920s and 1930s.[2]

Following World War II, East Jefferson became more commercial with the introduction of modern commercial structures. Yet, East Jefferson contains clusters of preserved historic structures.[2]

The Thematic Resource includes twenty-eight architecturally and historically significant structures, stretching along a scenic three-mile section of East Jefferson Avenue beginning just east of downtown Detroit. Each of the structures included are, in some way, representative of the "high style" architecture of the period.[2] The structures listed have a high degree of architectural integrity, with building alteration primarily confined to interior remodeling or additions; in all buildings, the Jefferson Avenue façade remains substantially intact.[2] Four of the historic structures along East Jefferson listed on the T.R. have been demolished after their addition to the Register.

The structures in this Thematic Resource vary greatly in style, construction, and use, but all are related by the common theme of residential development and general upper-class nature.[2] Each of the structures included are, in some way, representative of the "high style" architecture of the period.[2] The structures are divided into four groups, according to their original use and construction date.

The first group includes the single-family residences built by prominent Detroit citizens before the Civil War. This group includes the Joseph Campau House (1835) and the Alexander Chene House (1855) listed in this T.R., as well as the Charles Trowbridge House (1826) and the Moross House (1855), both listed on the NRHP at an earlier date. These structures are distinguished by their relatively modest appearance, although at the time of their construction they were fashionable homes housing prominent Detroit citizens.

The third group includes the large-scale luxury apartment buildings built in the early 20th century. These large, luxurious apartment buildings were the first multiple-unit structures to make inroads into the previously exclusive single-family residential East Jefferson neighborhood, with the Pasadena Apartments (1902) and The Palms (1903) being the earliest examples. The larger apartment buildings continued to be constructed along Jefferson, with the much larger Garden Court Apartments (1915), the Whittier Hotel (1922/1926), and the Alden Park Towers (1922) built over the next two decades, and The Kean (1931) built just as the Great Depression halted construction for years. These structures are distinguished by their relatively large size and (originally) sizable and luxurious apartments.